Strange Love Read online

  STRANGE LOVE

  ANN AGUIRRE

  CONTENTS

  Cover

  Title Page

  About the Book

  Dedication

  Copyright Page

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Author’s Note

  He’s awkward. He’s adorable. He’s alien as hell.

  Zylar of Kith B’alak is a four-time loser in the annual Choosing. If he fails to find a nest guardian this time, he’ll lose his chance to have a mate forever. Desperation drives him to try a matching service, but due to a freak solar flare and a severely malfunctioning ship AI, things go way off course. This “human being” is not the Tiralan match he was looking for.

  She’s frazzled. She’s fierce. She’s from St. Louis.

  Beryl Bowman’s mother always said Beryl would never get married. She should have added a rider about the husband being human. Who would have ever thought that working at the Sunshine Angel daycare center would offer such interstellar prestige? Beryl doesn’t know what the hell’s going on, but a new life awaits on Barath Colony, where she can have any alien bachelor she wants.

  They agree to join the Choosing together, but love is about to get seriously strange.

  For Christa,

  who loves alien jellyroll as much as I do.

  Copyright Information

  STRANGE LOVE

  Copyright © 2020 by Ann Aguirre

  EPUB Edition

  Edited by Christa Soulé Désir and Yasmin A McClinton

  Cover art by Kanaxa

  Character illustration by BreakerMaximus

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any form whatsoever, without written permission from the author except for brief quotations embodied in critical reviews or articles.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thanks to any reader who picked up STRANGE LOVE, drawn by the gorgeous art, the awkward alien hero, or the talking dog. This is an odd love story, but I truly adore it. Thanks to Christa and Yasmin for making it even better with their insightful edits. Thanks to Isabel for the wonderful proofreading!

  Next, I thank the Tessera Editorial team as a whole. Without them, there would be no book. From A to Z, they are amazing. As ever, thanks to my friends, the usual suspects. You know who you are and how well you keep me moving forward. Thanks especially to Rachel Caine who literally never gives up; I aspire to her levels of grit and fortitude.

  Thanks to my family and the readers who are still waiting for more of my (strange) stories. My imagination belongs to all of you. Thank you for allowing me to entertain you when there are so many other choices.

  The universe awaits. Read on!

  [ 1 ]

  Zylar spotted the signal lights at the provided coordinates before he landed, flashing as they raced across the ground. His prospective mate must be eager.

  He’d had doubts about signing up for the matching service, but he couldn’t resist the prospect of millions of potential partners across hundreds of compatible species. It was humiliating that he’d been passed over repeatedly in the annual Choosing, but not only would another failure disappoint his progenitors, this was also his final opportunity.

  He wasn’t the first to search off-world for a mate, at least. In his colony alone, there was a fearsome Revak warrior mated to his uncle and a Xolani doomsayer who’d paired with one of his cousins. His people weren’t xenophobic, but he’d never pictured himself out-bonding until now. With a faint churr, he studied the blurred image on the screen before him.

  For the past half a turn, he had been communicating with Asvi, and while she had never sent him a clear representation of herself, they’d gotten along well enough. He didn’t need to find her attractive. Most importantly, she was amenable to relocating to Barath. She should be waiting on the ground. While he couldn’t say he’d given both his hearts to Asvi, he believed they could build a life together.

  No point in hesitating. The journey had been harrowing with a bad jump that dumped them in the middle of solar flares that could have scrambled his ship AI. Right now, Helix was quiet, running diagnostics after the near miss.

  Zylar landed the shuttle with a flourish, though a grim feeling crept over him. The meeting point was dark. The strobing lights were gone. In fact, the whole area was more deserted than he had expected—altogether different than Asvi had led him to expect. She’d said her whole clan would be waiting to meet him and bless their union. While Zylar wasn’t delighted at the prospect of celebrating with so many strangers, he understood that he needed to respect their customs before he could reasonably expect any clan to send their offspring away with him.

  But this…it looked as if something had gone horribly wrong. From the scans, the chemical levels in the atmosphere would kill him if he breathed the air, and the ground was churned, as if from a fierce battle, and littered with refuse. The only thing missing was the bodies, almost like the damage had been so great they had been turned to dust.

  His neck ruff prickled with the impulse to bolt. It would shame his progenitors if he died, not in worthy combat, but while collecting his prospective mate. Retreating without investigation would be a cowardly course as well, for he might be leaving Asvi to die in this desolate place. He hadn’t detected any enemy ships in orbit around the planet. In fact, there was a mystifying dearth of traffic for such a populous world.

  Suiting up, he shored his courage and opened the shuttle doors. Technical readings scrolled on the inside of his smart helmet, reporting the chemical composition of the atmosphere that swept over him. The landscape was even worse up close, clods of crude black earth churned with dismal vegetation, detritus tumbling in the poison wind. Tall, foreboding flora ringed the open space, lending an ominous air to the dark and silent landing site. It was impossible for him to judge how long ago the battle had been fought, but according to his smart helmet, the field had been full of heat signatures less than one span ago. Recent—too recent. Asvi must have been caught in the attack.

  But who? Who would dare strike at the heart of—

  Helix, the ship AI, spoke, cutting into those dire thoughts. “Life signs detected. Report?”

  “Go ahead,” he said.

  “I have scanned and found survivors.”

  “Show me.”

  A bright path glowed, illuminating his route, and when he activated magnification, he spotted two figures in the distance, moving slowly. Sensors revealed they were alone, but the invaders might return. It was possible they were the enemy, he supposed, but scans revealed no weapons, and it seemed unlikely that two beings could have wreaked the destruction present here. He wasn’t geared for conflict, so he sprang forward, letting the suit augment his speed. Swiftly, he reached the two survivors, both of whom emitted incoherent sounds and scrambled away, as if he constituted a threat.

  Tra
uma, he suspected.

  The smaller being was covered in bristles and poufs, and it bounced on four appendages, while a fifth one whipped around as a sensory apparatus. It ran toward him as the larger one retreated. That must be Asvi since she was still here, waiting for his ship, even in the wake of such senseless violence. That loyalty was commendable, but she looked nothing like the dreamy, blurred images she’d sent to the matching service. No chitin, no feelers, not even a couple of headtails. No wonder she didn’t want me to see her face. Frankly, this creature was hideous, but since he’d been rejected four times at the Choosing, he wouldn’t win any prizes either, even among his own people.

  In the expedition suit, she couldn’t recognize him, and he’d die if he took off his smart helmet. Therefore, Zylar tried to calm her with words instead. “I’m here. You’re safe. I’m sorry I came too late to save your clan. Were there no other survivors?”

  In response to that reassurance, she let out a terrifying noise that echoed in his aural cavity and caused dizzying pain. He shook his head, once, twice, trying to remember if her species had such a natural sonic weapon, but when the screeching continued, he briefly lost the ability to think. The smaller thing made sounds too, less awful, but sharp and imperative somehow. His translation algorithm couldn’t decipher what they were saying, but that couldn’t be right—Asvi was Tiralan, and while they were a reclusive people, their language was fully intelligible by standard Coalition translation matrices. If she was crying out for him to save her, he ought to be able to understand every word.

  Is my equipment malfunctioning? Could it be the sun flares?

  She scrambled away and eventually spilled backward, clutching great clods of earth in her grabbers. With another horrific screech, she threw it at him, and he deduced that she had been driven beyond reason by the monstrous atrocities she’d witnessed. Still, it pained him to see his prospective mate responding with such visceral terror.

  What happened here?

  This wasn’t how he’d envisioned their first encounter, not that he’d spent a lot of time on those esoteric reflections. Mostly, he’d focused on readying himself for this momentous commitment. The shuttle was full of gifts that her clan would never receive. He would grieve their loss with her later, after she stabilized. Zylar could not predict what medicine would make her better. Maybe healing would require art, music, or simply the solace of time. Whatever it took, he would help her surmount this tragedy.

  “I’m detecting movement,” Helix said then.

  “How close?”

  “At current velocity, one quarter span or less. I recommend immediate evacuation, unless you desire to prove yourself in battle.”

  While Zylar would fight for Asvi, he’d rather not do it against unknown enemies with no preparation. He had her safety to consider, along with the other little survivor. Sometimes it was smarter and more tactically sound to retreat. If a retaliatory strike was necessary, he would return to Barath, convene a war council, and introduce the possibility of martial action, once they determined who was responsible for the devastation here. There was no time to be delicate, and he regretted that, but they had to go. Now.

  One final time, he tried to reason with her. “Calm down and come with me. It’s not safe here any longer. Do you understand?”

  If his equipment was functioning properly, maybe her gear had been broken in the attack? Because she showed no signs of comprehension, though her sounds quieted to a staccato erp that didn’t register as language. Churring in frustration, Zylar reached for her as slowly as he dared, but she lashed out, and now, lights blazed on the horizon—twin unholy beams that presaged more violence.

  “You’re running out of time,” Helix said.

  Trilling a curse, he gave up on reason and fired two stun rounds at the survivors. He’d save her life first and sort the rest out later. Both beings dropped at his feet, and they were small enough that he could transport them, one in each forelimb. Odd. He hadn’t realized the Tiralan were so delicate. The suit augmented his strength, and the boosters jetted him to the shuttle as the lights closed in behind them.

  Both his hearts pounded as he vaulted in through the open doors and set his two guests on the floor as gently as possible. “Helix, activate lockdown and prepare for departure.”

  “Understood, princess.”

  “What—” But he didn’t have time to question the AI as he raced to inject his guests with the adaptive respiratory serum that would allow them to breathe the same air that he did. Those lights were ominously close now.

  Just in time, Zylar settled into the pilot seat. He had to get off the surface and back to his ship before the enemy targeted them.

  Keeping calm, he cracked open his helmet and inhaled the sanitized air. So much better. With a few strokes of claws on the nav-screen, he sent the shuttle arcing into the sky, heading for low orbit as fast as possible. He braced for an attack, but his trail must be too small for their sensors. Zylar churred in relief and sat back as the autopilot kicked in, allowing the small vessel to settle into its dock alongside the larger ship.

  “We should talk,” Helix said.

  “We need to slip this system first.” Ignoring the AI, he unlocked the series of interior doors that connected the shuttle to the ship and moved Asvi and her small friend to the quarters he’d decorated specially for her.

  Though they were running unseen for now, that might change. He had to get to Barathi space as soon as possible. With that objective in mind, he put in the coordinates and strapped in for the jump. The AI was trying to say something as reality went liquid, all jumbled colors and sideways breathing. His stomach turned upside down, and then they were through, far enough from the destruction to be safe.

  “Good. We made it. Let’s get to the colony as—”

  “We really need to talk, princess.” Helix had never sounded quite like that, scrambled and distorted, somehow.

  “Why do you keep calling me that?”

  “I think…the solar flares we encountered en route…did something to me. I’m experiencing cascade failures on multiple levels and that includes my vocabulary.”

  “What’re you trying to tell me? Say it plainly!”

  If AIs could sound frightened, Helix did. “That is… We weren’t at Titan V, the Tiralani outpost. I can’t even find a name for those coordinates in my database.”

  “You took me to the wrong planet?” Zylar roared, both hearts churning rage. “One that’s not even logged? That means—”

  “Yes, princess. You kidnapped a couple of lower primates.”

  Beryl woke with an aching head. Did I black out after drinking again? That was probably the worst of her habits. Some cop had caught her peeing in an alley outside a bar last month, but the judge had let her off with a fine and a week of community service. Dizzily, she tried to assemble the broken pieces of memory.

  I was at the reenactment…carried water all damn day, and then what? She’d brought her dog along because she didn’t like leaving him home alone, and he loved frolicking in the sun, napping in the shade, and making new friends. She remembered the “knight” who fainted from running around the faux-battlefield in heavy armor, and the ambulance they’d summoned to cart him to the hospital. That cut the battle short, and everyone had cleared out in a hurry. Nothing like heatstroke to ruin medieval good times. She’d stayed to clean up and collect the trash the reenactors had left behind. If she had finished, she would’ve been done making amends to society.

  But something happened… Oh shit. I can’t believe I forgot, even for a second.

  Lights had appeared in the sky, just like in the movies, and then she’d spotted a figure in a power suit, sort of like the armor the murderous alien wore in the Predator movies. Come to think of it, she was faintly surprised to find herself in one piece. She’d thought she was about to be gutted like a fish, and maybe stuffed for display in some rare creatures museum.

  Her whole body felt sluggish, heavy as wet sand. With effort, she cracked a
n eye open, conscious of persistent ringing in her ears. The lights were low and yellow, warm instead of the clinical brightness she’d feared. The fact that she didn’t find a team of gray dudes waiting to dissect her or to put scanners up her butt seemed like a lucky break. But maybe whatever the alien’s power armor had been hiding would be worse?

  Oh God, what happened to Snaps?

  With trembling noodle arms, she reached out, feeling around until she found the scruffy little mutt she’d adopted a few months ago. Her dog was still passed out on his side, little paws outstretched. Beryl struggled upright, head swirling, and she squeezed her eyes shut until the wavering subsided. There was a residual queasiness in her stomach to complement the buzzing in her ears. With quietly growing dread, she took stock of the space around her. She didn’t recognize any of the furnishings, but clearly, this was a living area, not a cage or a cell. About the only feature she could identify was the door.

  Which opened as she was staring at it, and a creature from Hollywood’s best FX room strode through. The alien—oh God, an alien—stood over two meters, mottled green and brown, with light striping along the sides. Two arms, two legs, but that was where the similarity to humans stopped. It had arched and scaly feet like a bird, and three fingers tipped with ferocious claws. Spines grew out of the creature’s skull and ran down the back, while side-set eyes looked faintly insectoid. No ears or nose, just slits in the face plate, and what looked like a maw or a beak. The alien had what she’d call a thorax more than a chest, and prickly things growing out of the…neck? While she stared, tissue puffed out, thickening its throat with transparent webbing. Somehow, she managed not to scream this time, though she did get the hiccups. Again.

  “Hi,” she tried.

  Beside her, Snaps stirred at the sound of her voice, scrabbling at the smooth and shiny floor with his paws, but he couldn’t shake off whatever the alien had zapped them with. The curly-haired pup whined a little, so she patted him like she had everything under control. The thought kept looping—I have totally been abducted by aliens. This is happening. I wonder if there are any cattle on board.